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Call to overhaul county government in Oklahoma makes fiscal sense

THE Oklahoma Academy has called for abolishing or consolidating county governments in Oklahoma, saying the “current 77 county system is antiquated, inefficient, ineffective and increases competition among municipalities and counties for resources.” Any change would take a constitutional amendment and will likely face strong opposition.

County officials, for obvious reasons, will be against the proposal, but many voters also prefer local government to regional or state governments. That's one reason this idea, touted by the academy since 1995, has gone nowhere in the past.

Unfortunately, there is a tension between Oklahomans' preference for local government and voters' willingness to participate in it. Too often, local government gets the least scrutiny. Many people know about the governor's agenda and actions, but few can tell you what the local county commissioner has been up to.

At times, this lackadaisical attitude has fostered an atmosphere of lawlessness. TheOklahoman's Berry Tramel recently noted the passing of John Henry Ward, not because Ward was a two-sport star at Oklahoma State University, but mostly because he stood out as an honest man in county government.

Ward, a Delaware County commissioner in the 1980s, served at the same time then-U.S. Attorney Bill Price was busy prosecuting county commissioners, tallying more than 200 convictions for kickbacks. Price estimates that of more than 200 county commissioners, only 10 were honest.

Oklahoma's county commissioner scandal remains one of the largest government corruption cases in U.S. history and shows local control doesn't exist when citizens don't impose local accountability. Not every local government failure reaches that level, but any shortfall is troubling.

Take school board performance. Those positions have enormous influence on the future of community children, yet board races often struggle to attract candidates and then voter turnout for those elections is often miniscule. This leads to sometimes harsh consequences for students.

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by The Oklahoman Editorial Board

The Oklahoman Editorial Board consists of Gary Pierson, President and CEO of The Oklahoma Publishing Company; Christopher P. Reen, president and publisher of The Oklahoman; Kelly Dyer Fry, editor and vice president of news; Christy Gaylord...